Soil Workshops at the ORFC

SOIL WORKSHOPS AT THE OXFORD REAL FARMING CONFERENCE 2015 Editor Mike Donovan recalls the talk on soil at the 2015 Oxford Real Farming Conference by Bruce Bell of the Scottish Agricultural College. Delegates were asked to bring soil samples so Dr Bruce might analyse them, and the event proved so popular the room in the Town Hall was packed. Unfortunately many farmers thought it a competition to find the best soil and so he was confronted with some examples of the best in the country. A few, including your editor, decided to take samples of poor soil, and the advice was very helpful.

Visual evaluation of soil

Bruce Ball specialises in soil physics and soil management at Scotland's Rural College, and concentrates on compaction, structure, and porosity.

Bruce says "Visual evaluation is something any farmer can do, without involving expense." Evaluation can suggest remedial action.

Bruce told his audience that soil is made up of 45% minerals; 25% air; 25% water; 10% organic material; 10% roots and around 8% humus. Ratios vary through poor structure and soil type. Evaluation involves extracting and inspecting a block of soil.

He said Tom Batey, a farmer who has been an inspiration to him, tells people to "observe and let the soil tell its story".

Comparing soil from the the centre of the field with a block taken from under the fence line, corner, or other area of the field not rolled over with a tractor and/or heavily treaded by cattle is a useful exercise to see the damage which has been created over the years.

Soil block extraction Dig at least a spade spit deep, and more if the field has had some deep cultivating and heavy traffic on it. The block needs to be about 6ins wide and be lifted out carefully and placed on a plastic sack. If the soil is hard it might be necessary to get the block from the side of a previous hole.

What to look for If the block has a uniform structure the signs are good,

Try 6 issues!

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FEBRUARY - MAY 2020 VOLUME 28 / ISSUE 4 WWW.FARMIDEAS.CO.UK #112

MADE IT MYSELF

You may well be concerned about the future. Now is the

time when you will value independent advice from people who are not selling you anything but are just pleased to share their knowledge and experience. People like the contributors to each issue of Practical Farm Ideas. Find out more today from me, Mike Donovan editor@farmideas.co.uk or visit www.farmideas.co.uk for a bargain subscription offer. • Carries no advertising or paid content • Focuses on time and money saving ideas • The farming optimiser! Made it Myself - Soil+ Cover Cropping Financial Focus - Farm World - Safety MADE IT MYSELF MADE IT MYSELF VOL 28 ISSUE 4 PRACTICAL FARM IDEAS 13 TEL: +44(0)7778 877514 12 PRACTICAL FARM IDEAS FEBRUARY - MAY 2020 WWW.FARMIDEAS.CO.UK Heavy industrial table won’t move This table is a relic of previous industry but more than suitable for farm work. The low top around 2ft 6ins off the floor is good for some jobs which involve some larger items, but like the bandsaw it can get your back after a while. Instead of extending the legs Will has used a gas cutter to cut a section of table out and mount it on a frame to make a raised platform. It allows one of the work vices to be at a better height. The top is 3/4 inch, 20mm thick and so indestructible . Cattle work is all done under cover in part of a shed. There’s good access from all the sheds. A circular forcing pen using the Temple Grandin principle feeds the cattle into the American cattle crush which has worked well for many years. The curved steel for the forcing pen was rolled at considerble expense and he is now making another curved passage. This time he is making the curve using James Herron’s system of cutting, bending and then welding. Not quite as pretty as the engineered solution but one which hasn’t taken too much time. The curved pen which has been advocated by the cow handling expert caught our eye right at the start of Practical Farm Ideas, this at a time when handling systems were all straight lines and right angles. We described her work in detail in Issue 1 - 2, Summer 1992; again in issue 19 - 3 Autumn 2010; and even in our last issue 28 - 3 Autumn 2019. CATTLE HANDLING Right: The small trough has its valve in the bottom Far right: Another water trough idea has a master tank with feeder pipes to drinking bowls that are all set at the same level. There’s only one ball valve to go wrong. Water flow is good as there’s no restriction. The bigger the difference in levels the faster the flow. Above left to right: The crush has a squeeze mechanism and opening panels for clipping and veterinary work. The machine, together with its weigh cells, is the heart of cattle management ; The curved handling area which keeps cattle moving in the right direction is now popular ; Raceway widths can be adjusted so all sizes of cattle handle properly Here we have a shop which many readers aspire to. It’s just the size - it’s in a corner of the main implement shed. The layout of standing machinery and tools looks ‘kinda intuitive’ as the Americans might say. Enter and you can’t miss the huge 4 x 16 ft steel table. It’s pretty flat and that makes it useful for gates and other jobs, and one can see from the walk round just how many have started life here. When we visited he was using it to make the Temple Grandin curves and the completed ones were on the table to get them identical. It’s great to see the shop in the middle of work, rather than after a morning of major putting away. Raised bandsaw The bandsaw has a major role in most farm workshops. If you want to make a clean cut, it’s the tool of choice. But for some reason bandsaws are always made for very short people. The bed is less than 2ft from the floor, which means you’re constantly bending loading the steel and adjusting it for accuracy. Cutting diagonal bars for feed barriers is just one job where a bigger, or rather higher machine would be welcome. The Barrie way was simple - he made a stand using two lengths of 5 x 10 inch rsj. The saw is now 10 inches higher and he then raised the steel stands to match. Will says the saw is very much better to use. WORKSHOP IDEAS PROVIDE MORE PRODUCTIVE HOURS Above: Raising the bandsaw so you’re bending down makes sense Left: The stands get leg extensions as well Above: Monster table has 3/4 inch thick top Staples, posts, nails, hand saw, hammer, wire, hacksaw, pliers, strainer, chainsaw… the items you need for a day fencing could turn into a parlour game. The day often starts with a mental list of what’s needed followed by a search around all the possible places. Some tools won’t be found and so there’s a need for something which will do. The work starts and then “damn, we left the 6in nails in the shed… can you slip up and get a handful?” So the job is on stop-start and soon it’s time for lunch. Which is why this fencing trailer is so obvious. It’s the place where the fencing tools are kept as well as the means of getting them to site. Fencing preparation involves little more than hitching up. LIVESTOCK FARMERS! HERE’S A FENCING TRAILER YOU SHOULD LOOK AT! Above: There’s a place for everything to do with fencing here INSIDE FARM SAFETY THINK-PIECE #3 LIQUID FERTILISER LAGOON LAMMA 2020 FINANCE: GETTING A FINANCIAL GRIP: MANAGING FARM BORROWING THE ONLY FARMING MAGAZINE WITH NO ADVERTISING SOIL+ • NO-TILL PIONEER • IMPRESSIVE YEN FARMER YIELDS • EFFECTIVE COVER CROP DESTRUCTION Photo credit: Will Barrie 770968 013022 9 12> £4.35 MADE IT MYSELF MADE IT MYSELF VOL 28 ISSUE 4 PRACTICAL FARM IDEAS 13 TEL: +44(0)7778 877514 12 PRACTICAL FARM IDEAS FEBRUARY - MAY 2020 WWW.FARMIDEAS.CO.UK Heavy industrial table won’t move This table is a relic of previous industry but more than suitable for farm work. The low top around 2ft 6ins off the floor is good for some jobs which involve some larger items, but like the bandsaw it can get your back after a while. Instead of extending the legs Will has used a gas cutter to cut a section of table out and mount it on a frame to make a raised platform. It allows one of the work vices to be at a better height. The top is 3/4 inch, 20mm thick and so indestructible . Cattle work is all done under cover in part of a shed. There’s good access from all the sheds. A circular forcing pen using the Temple Grandin principle feeds the cattle into the American cattle crush which has worked well for many years. The curved steel for the forcing pen was rolled at considerble expense and he is now making another curved passage. This time he is making the curve using James Herron’s system of cutting, bending and then welding. Not quite as pretty as the engineered solution but one which hasn’t taken too much time. The curved pen which has been advocated by the cow handling expert caught our eye right at the start of Practical Farm Ideas, this at a time when handling systems were all straight lines and right angles. We described her work in detail in Issue 1 - 2, Summer 1992; again in issue 19 - 3 Autumn 2010; and even in our last issue 28 - 3 Autumn 2019. CATTLE HANDLING Right: The small trough has its valve in the bottom Far right: Another water trough idea has a master tank with feeder pipes to drinking bowls that are all set at the same level. There’s only one ball valve to go wrong. Water flow is good as there’s no restriction. The bigger the difference in levels the faster the flow. Above left to right: The crush has a squeeze mechanism and opening panels for clipping and veterinary work. The machine, together with its weigh cells, is the heart of cattle management ; The curved handling area which keeps cattle moving in the right direction is now popular ; Raceway widths can be adjusted so all sizes of cattle handle properly Here we have a shop which many readers aspire to. It’s just the size - it’s in a corner of the main implement shed. The layout of standing machinery and tools looks ‘kinda intuitive’ as the Americans might say. Enter and you can’t miss the huge 4 x 16 ft steel table. It’s pretty flat and that makes it useful for gates and other jobs, and one can see from the walk round just how many have started life here. When we visited he was using it to make the Temple Grandin curves and the completed ones were on the table to get them identical. It’s great to see the shop in the middle of work, rather than after a morning of major putting away. Raised bandsaw The bandsaw has a major role in most farm workshops. If you want to make a clean cut, it’s the tool of choice. But for some reason bandsaws are always made for very short people. The bed is less than 2ft from the floor, which means you’re constantly bending loading the steel and adjusting it for accuracy. Cutting diagonal bars for feed barriers is just one job where a bigger, or rather higher machine would be welcome. The Barrie way was simple - he made a stand using two lengths of 5 x 10 inch rsj. The saw is now 10 inches higher and he then raised the steel stands to match. Will says the saw is very much better to use. WORKSHOP IDEAS PROVIDE MORE PRODUCTIVE HOURS Above: Raising the bandsaw so you’re bending down makes sense Left: The stands get leg extensions as well Above: Monster table has 3/4 inch thick top Staples, posts, nails, hand saw, hammer, wire, hacksaw, pliers, strainer, chainsaw… the items you need for a day fencing could turn into a parlour game. The day often starts with a mental list of what’s needed followed by a search around all the possible places. Some tools won’t be found and so there’s a need for something which will do. The work starts and then “damn, we left the 6in nails in the shed… can you slip up and get a handful?” So the job is on stop-start and soon it’s time for lunch. Which is why this fencing trailer is so obvious. It’s the place where the fencing tools are kept as well as the means of getting them to site. Fencing preparation involves little more than hitching up. LIVESTOCK FARMERS! HERE’S A FENCING TRAILER YOU SHOULD LOOK AT! Above: There’s a place for everything to do with fencing here

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Bruce Ball, SAC, gets his hands dirty in the soil workshop, but unfortunately many farmers presented their best rather than their damaged soils which were in many respects less interesting. but you need to take more than a sulphurous with a hint of rotten eggs in picture of the aerator your editor passing glance. Soil that has been there, and it is the last which indicates made in 1988! Spiking can't harm soil. affected by traffic and other use will problems. Spiking is less drastic than subsoiling have horizontal layers of different structure. The depth of these layers Soil scoring and sward lifting. If the soil is damp and smears, the slits are going to be needs measuring and noting down. Scoring the sample starts with the less effective than if the soil breaks like Breaking the soil in the block reveals more information. The first stage it to move the block on the bag gently and see how and where it fractures. This can show layers which may not be first visible, and you can then pick out lumps from different depths of the soil and take a look at their shape. Breaking lumps into 1/2in - 1.5cm - fragments will show whether their porosity, root patterns. ease of block extraction, the aggregate shape, roots, colour and the ease of fragmentation. Soils have a wide variation of types and qualities, and there's no point in expecting yours to compare with the best - unless it is the best! All are susceptible to damage, and the damage will show itself in the same manner in each type of soil, which is why visual evaluation is viable. Improving damaged soils, scooping cold ice cream. But the soil which is dry takes a lot more weight to get the spikes in. We used the spiker once or twice a year over the whole farm, but were far too ignorant to understand the value of digging holes and looking at soil strata. I would probably have been horrified at what I was looking at. Aerating worked well absorbing rainwater after thick slurry spreading. Heavy rain all day was going to wash the slurry into the stream,

Shape of soil pieces It's obvious remedial methods which was monitored less than a mile that you want to see the soil as it is present in the field, so parts that have been squashed by the spade and boots are not representative. Similarly when handling the need is to do it gently. Angular patterns, smooth surfaces rather than pitted indicate problems. Plant roots in the block indicate the quality of the soil. Roots that are clustered, which turn at sharp angles, that are thick and short all indicate soil problems. Soil colour is very important, as that which has been starved of air goes grey, and can smell of sulphur and quite frequently there are ferrous ions present as well. Colour varies with the mineral type. Soil smell is another useful measure Bruce had less to say on the remedial work - but then his talk was on evaluation. Yet putting soils right was perhaps the reason for many of the audience being there. Sward lifter warnings He had some words of warning about sward lifters - the Sumo is being well advertised and we featured a home designed one from Gwyn Scourfield, in Whitland. Good grass swards have prime roots which go down a long way. If a lifter is pulled through it the roots get cut and this obviously damages the plant and so reduces grass yield. Lifted swards are also more susceptible to poaching, as the soil can be quite aggressively moved upwards, leaving it less capable of carrying weight. away for pollution. The spiked holes absorbed had the rainwater and slurry - result: a saturated field which took 10 days to get dry enough to plough, but no officials called! Getting the camera out Taking pictures over a period of years will show the changes that happen over time and Bruce says it can be a simple way to keep a check on progress. Broader issues The trend has been for farmers to rely entirely on soil sampling and analysis, generally done free of charge by their fertiliser supplier. The pH, NPK and S results are a long way from what can be provided to guide the farmer to the most effective ways to manage their soil, not simply for the crop they of structure. He described three Aeration with a spiker Bruce are planting, but for crops in the future. different smells - like leaf mulch, a kind of woodland scent; like old compost which is perhaps slightly more acidic; explained the value of getting air and moisture into the soil. He said that aeration was valuable, and put up a This report first appeared in Practical Farm Ideas Vol 23-4 Winter 2014-15.